The Wacky World of Ranma 12
by YamiKaykaMotou
Summary: A collection of one-shots featuring Ranma, Akane, Ryoga, Shampoo, and Mousse. The first story is how will Kuno react when Ranma reveals his curse to him? COMPLETE.
1. A Whole New Set of Problems

**I don't own Ranma ½. As I had promised, here's my Ranma fic. I'm much better now with this series than when I wrote "Akane's Curse." I know the characters and the series a lot more than I did now.**

**This is a four-part story. All the chapters will connect to each other, but can be read as separate stories except for the last two. You'll find out when I post them. For now, enjoy this chapter.**

A Whole New Set of Problems

"Boy, you should be willing to lay down your life for the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts!" Genma Saotome shouted at his son as he aimed a kick toward the boy's head.

"My life, yes. My manhood's another story," Ranma yelled back. He ducked under the kick and then launched his Chestnuts Technique, which sent Genma crashing into the wall. Ranma, not waiting for his father to get up, stormed out of the dojo and onto the streets of Tokyo.

Ranma fumed as he walked. Another training session turned into yet another fight. As usual, it was all his dad's fault. If his dad understood Chinese, they would never have go to Jusenkyo. Or would they have? No, no they definitely wouldn't have gone there.

Ranma's anger faded as he imagined what his life would have been if he was curseless. What a life it would be: No fiancés, no one chasing after his girl form, and no crazy Amazons trying to kill him or marry him. Just good old martial arts training.

"Ranma Saotome! Prepare to die and relinquish your hold on Akane Tendo and the pig-tailed girl!" a voice several yards behind him cried.

Ranma closed his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. Speaking of people chasing his girl form. Kuno had been his most persistent opponent since his first day of school in Tokyo. The guy thought Ranma loved two girls and was very possessive of them. Kuno didn't know that Ranma and the pig-tailed girl were the same person. He had all but shown Kuno of this fact.

'Wait! If I show him, he'd be out of my hair for good. Why didn't I think of this a long time ago?"

Ranma turned and caught the tip of the kendo sword with his fingertips, eyes still closed. "Look, Kuno," he said, opening his eyes. "if you want the pig-tailed girl, you can have her. She's yours."

"You would give up your claim to my gorgeous redheaded goddess?"

"Sure. She's not really my type."

"And what of fair Akane Tendo?"

"She may be uncute and a bit of a tomboy, but she is my fiancé." Personally, Ranma found Akane to be a cute, nice girl. He just couldn't bring himself to tell her to her face.

"Hey, Kuno. It so happens I know where the pig-tailed girl is. Heh, follow me." Ranma quickly headed toward the school and the pool where Kuno first saw his girl form. Both boys were unaware that Kodachi was secretly tailing them.

Ranma was inwardly shaking with trepidation. He had never deliberately shown anyone his curse. But, to get Kuno to leave him alone, he had to do this. He could almost see the look of disgust on Kuno's face when he sees Ranma change from boy to girl.

Ranma stopped at the poolside and looked back to see Kuno wildly searching for his "love." He looked somewhat comical

"So," the upperclassman said. "where is she? Curse you, Saotome! I shall smite you if you have deceived me!"

"Oh, she's here. Kuno, do you remember when she said at the gymnastics competition that she and I share one mind and one body?" Ranma picked up a pail and filled it with water.

"Oh, yes. I remember. How that moment has haunted my dreams."

"Well, the reason she said that is because I am the girl."

"You lie."

"Oh, it's true. Watch this. Oh and don't blink." Ranma turned around, the pail over his head. He waited until Kuno did blink before dumping the water on his head.

"Brrr," he said in his girl voice. She looked at Kuno to see him staring at her in shock, his mouth hanging around his knees.

"S-Saotome?" came a strangled whisper.

"You're probably wondering how this happened, right?" His answer was a nod. "Well, in China there's a place called Jusenkyo and it has thousands of springs. Each spring has a story where someone or something drowned there. If you fall into one, you take the body of what drowned there when splashed with cold water. You change back with hot water. I ended up falling in Spring of Drowned Girl."

"Only you would be stupid enough to fall in a cursed spring, Saotome."

"Yeah. Stupid me." Ranma smirked inwardly when she saw Kuno trying to curb his usual impulse to hug his "love." Clearly, the kendo star would be fighting his impulses for a while.

"Well, follow me and I'll show you my hot water change." Ranma walked inside with Kuno right behind her as well as Kodachi.

Kuno felt as if he was in a dream. Ranma, his hated rival, and his pig-tailed girl were the same person! Discreetly, he pinched himself to insure that he wasn't dreaming- ouch! Nope, this was no dream. He followed Ranma into the boy's room where the cursed boy filled another bucket, this time with hot water, which she dumped on herself and became a boy again.

"So, Kuno," Ranma said as they left the restroom. "I guess you'll stop chasing my girl side, huh?"

Before the seventeen-year old could respond, Kodachi came flying up the hall and flung her arms around Ranma's neck.

"Oh, my poor darling Ranma," she cried. "I had no idea that redheaded girl was you the whole time."

"K-Kodachi!" he sputtered. "What are you- whoa!" He grabbed Kodachi around the waist and leaped out of the path of some cold water. He landed and turned to see Kuno with an empty pail.

"What's the big idea?" he shouted. "You know what'll happen if cold water hits me."

"Precisely my intention," Kuno replied. "If thou stayed a girl, then thou would eventually love me." He laughed as this scene played though his mind.

"That's sick!" Ranma exclaimed. "I would never love you!"

"So true," Kodachi purred. "You're a boy Ranma. You deserve to stay as one and love me, The Black Rose."

Ranma didn't hear the last part of the second sentence. Kodachi had a point. He deserved to stay a boy- permanently. No more changing to a girl. The life he had always dreamed about. But then all those fun things he did as a girl would be forever denied to him- especially eating sweets.

A metallic clang cut into his thoughts. He looked to see Kuno with a full pail and Kodachi beside her brother with kettle that had steam issuing from its spout. It was clear to Ranma that Kuno would be ambushing Ranma with cold water from now on while Kodachi waited with hot water. This meant he would have to be on his guard whenever he left the Tendo dojo.

Both siblings took a step toward him. Ranma didn't hesitate. He pushed past them and bolted out of the school, yelling in terror.

The End

**I know I could have had Kuno react with complete disgust and stop chasing Ranma-chan the way Ranma had planned, but that would have been boring. This way was much more fun and unexpected.**


	2. Secret Revealed

**I would like to make a counterpoint in a previous review. The point made was Ranma's comment to Kuno of him and Ranma-chan being of one mind and one body. I was told that she did not say it during the gymnastics competition in season one. I double-checked the episode and Ranma-chan did say it and to Kuno's face to boot. Of course, Kodachi heard it too, but the point is that she did say it. Please watch the episode "A Tear in a Girl-Delinquent's Eye? The End of the Martial Arts Gymnastics Challenge" for this line.**

**I would like to point out that some characters will be OOC, mainly because I believe they can be capable of brilliant moments now and again. Kuno and Kodachi's acceptance (?) of Ranma's curse is one example. This chapter's focus will be Akane and Ryoga, both whom will toss aside their ignorances.**

Secret Revealed

Akane was in the dojo training room after the Saotomes had finished training. Actually, arguing was more accurate. What they argued about didn't concern her one bit.

She threw two center punches, did a roundhouse kick, and repeated the cycle two more times. Then, she got out three cement blocks and laid a damp cloth on top of them.

Her hand hovered over the blocks as she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly let it out. 'Concentrate,' she thought. With a battle cry, she brought her hand down and karate chopped all three blocks in half.

She opened her eyes and surveyed her handiwork. She wiped her forehead off with the back of her hand before saying, "Ah, that felt good."

Satisfied with her practice, Akane cleaned up the mess. As she exited the room, several minutes later, she heard a terror-filled cry.

She looked at the front door to see Ranma dashing through them, his face horror-stricken. "What's your problem?" she snapped, even though she was concerned. Ranma was rarely scared.

Ranma didn't even give a smart-aleck response. "I should never have told Kuno the truth," was all he said.

"What are you talking about?"

"I thought I show Kuno my curse to get him to stop chasing my girl side."

"It didn't work?"

"No. He's going to try and ambush me with cold water. Kodachi found out too and will be waiting with hot water.

"Oh, Ranma. That's awful."

The two of them stood there in silence as night closed in around them. Then, Kasumi's voice broke the quiet. "Dinner's ready, you two."

"Come on, Akane. Let's go in," Ranma said. Akane just nodded.

The next morning, Akane woke up, had breakfast, practice afterwards until lunchtime, and then showered and dressed before going out shopping. Akane smiled and took a deep breath. It was a beautiful day and best of all, she didn't have Ranma tagging along behind her.

It was late afternoon as Akane walked across the bridge on her route home. Movement on the wooden pegs standing above the water caught her and she turned to look.

She saw Ranma in girl form fighting Ryoga. She frowned and rolled her eyes. Those two were always fighting! The reason for it eluded her, but she doubted it had to do with some bread Ranma had always beat Ryoga to.

Akane leaped over the bridge rail and slid down the steep slope to land on the river's sandy edge. She opened her mouth to call to them as both leaped into the air. Ranma the delivered a kick powerful enough to send Ryoga splashing into the river- right near where Akane was standing!

"Ryoga!" she exclaimed. She dropped to her stomach and plunged an arm into the water, hoping to find some sign of Ryoga. In the back of her mind, she noticed that Ranma had already left. The jerk. Her questing hand gripped something hard and very heavy. She stuck her other hand in and heaved the object out of the river.

It was Ryoga's backpack with his umbrella attached to its top. She shoved it aside and put both arms back under the surface. After a few minutes, one hand came across something soft and a second later, so did the other hand. She pulled her hands out. In the left were Ryoga's clothes and in the other was…

"P-chan!" she exclaimed. She dropped the clothes beside her and hugged her pet pig. "Oh, my baby! Where have you been? I've been so-," Akane broke off when she noticed something she hadn't before.

P-chan's scarf bore the same pattern as Ryoga's headband. She glanced at the wet clothes beside her. Where _was_ Ryoga anyway? Surely, he wasn't walking around naked. She stared at P-chan, then at the clothes, and back again. Was it possible?

'There's only one way to find out,' she thought. She stuffed the clothes into the backpack, hefted it onto her shoulders, gathered up her bags and P-chan, and raced home. Once home, she headed straight for the bathroom. She closed the door, set P-chan down, and dropped the bags and backpack before drawing up a hot bath.

P-chan sensed what Akane was up to and started squealing and flailing about as Akane held him over the tub. He struggled so fiercely that Akane had trouble holding on to him.

"Whoa! Hey, take it easy! I just want to test something." Akane waited until P-chan had calmed down before she lowered him into the tub and gently let go.

A couple of minutes passed before Ryoga's upper body broke the surface, his head bowed and his eyes focused on the water.

"I thought so," Akane said softly. "but I wasn't sure."

Silence filled the bathroom before Ryoga broke the silence. "I suppose you're wondering how this happened?" He looked over to see Akane nod before looking down again. "I chased down Ranma after he skipped out on our duel. I eventually came to Jusenkyo. As I stood on a cliff overlooking the grounds, I heard a noise. I turned to see a panda charging at me. I jumped up to avoid it, but a red-haired girl came flying through the air. She kicked me and I fell into Spring of Drowned Pig."

"Oh, Ryoga. That's awful. No wonder you're mad at Ranma. I'm guessing he's the one who kicked you into that spring."

"Yeah. He was. Akane, you're not mad at me for deceiving you, are you?"

"No, of course not."

"I'm relieved to hear you say that. I would hate for you to be mad at me."

"I do have a question, though. Why did you calm down before I put you in the water."

"I realized that I was going to land in this tub and I couldn't do a thing about it. I figured it was time to tell the truth."

'He may not have a good sense of direction,' Akane thought. 'But he's a sweet guy who knows when it's time to be honest.'

"Ryoga, did you enjoy teasing Ranma when I was clueless?"

"Yeah," he answered softly, relish evident in his voice.

"I wouldn't mind if you continued that teasing."

"You mean act as if you never found out?"

"Exactly. It would serve Ranma right."

Ryoga was silent for a few moments. "Close your eyes," he finally said.

Akane had a good idea why he made this request and shut her eyes. She heard him get out of the tub, the shower head turning on, and then a pig squeal.

Akane opened her eyes and glanced back to see Ryoga next to the running shower head as P-chan. Akane smiled as she turned the head off and drained the tub before leaving the bathroom with the bags and Ryoga. She stowed Ryoga's bag under her bed, got dressed in her night clothes (Ryoga averted his eyes), and then climbed into bed and fell asleep with Ryoga curled up beside her.

Ryoga woke up to the feeling of sunlight on his face. He stood up and turned to look at Akane's sleeping peaceful face. She's really pretty when she's asleep he decided. He felt happy and at peace with himself now that Akane knew his secret.

Movement pulled him out of his thoughts. He blinked to see Akane, awake and smiling at him. "Good morning, Ryoga."

Ryoga wanted to respond in the same way, but an oink came out. Akane just smiled again, scooped up Ryoga, and headed downstairs for breakfast.

The End

**I do apologize for the long author's note at the beginning. I'm not made, just wished to point out a mistake from a good review.**


	3. Mousse's Ploy part one

**As with the last chapter, I will explain the points reviewers made with chapter two. One point that pretty much everyone made was Akane's reaction to the revelation. I would like to say that the style of Rumiko Takahashi with this anime is a little wild and sometimes a character or characters will react in a totally unexpected way. I chose to take that route with Akane. I hear what everyone's saying about how she should have been furious at the thought of a boy peeping at her while she's getting dressed. I understand this. If a boy was peeping at me, I would be furious too.**

Mousse's Ploy

Part One

"Welcome to- Ranma!" Shampoo glomped Ranma as he and Akane walked into the Cat Café. Akane glared at the Amazon while Ryoga (as P-chan) snickered into the crook of her elbow.

It had been a week since Akane discovered Ryoga's secret. With this knowledge, she observed how Ranma and Ryoga acted toward one another with new eyes. Some comments Ranma made to Ryoga had been so obvious, Akane couldn't believe how oblivious she had been. She did, however, act like she usually would have. She knew she would have to tell Ranma she knew the truth eventually, but for now she was having too much fun.

When Shampoo finished glomping Ranma, she led them to a table where she eagerly awaited their orders. Ranma sensed that Shampoo would ignore Akane's order if he went first so he said, "Akane, go ahead and order first."

Akane was surprised at Ranma's generosity. She suspected the reason behind it was to make sure Shampoo didn't ignore her order. She put her order in. While Shampoo was writing down Ranma's order, Akane asked, "Do you know where Mousse is, Shampoo?" The Hidden Weapons Master was usually near Shampoo.

"Shampoo no care where stupid Mousse is," she replied. "I place orders now."

As Shampoo headed for the counter, she frowned thoughtfully. She hadn't seen Mousse for a few days. She knew he hadn't given up pursuing her. What was he up to?

Mousse stared at the countless springs before him while a guide stood behind him. "Jusenkyo," he said softly.

"Is sir sure he want to do this?" the guide said.

"Oh, yeah," he answered. "Just lead me to that spring and I'll take care of the rest."

As he was carefully lead across the grounds (he had his glasses on properly), Mousse prayed this plan worked. If it did, he would finally win Shampoo's love! 'I wonder if Shampoo has noticed I'm not there.'

"Here sir is the spring you seek."

"Excellent." Mousse reached into one of his voluminous sleeves and pulled out a box the size of a shopping basket, already stamped and addressed. He handed it to the man.

"When I surface, put me in this box and mail it."

"I no understand sir, but I do it."

"Good." Taking a deep breath, Mousse jumped into the spring before him.

Three Days Later

"Excuse me, miss."

Shampoo looked up from behind the counter to see a mailman on the other side, a box in his hands.

"This package is for you."

"Thank you," Shampoo replied, taking the box. The man bowed and then left the café.

The Amazon looked at the package. The return address said it was from China. A package from her tribe, perhaps? Intrigued, she took it into the back and opened it.

Sitting inside the box was a handsome white cat with deep blue eyes. A combination of adoration and irony washed over her. On one hand, the cat was adorable. On the other hand, receiving the cat was ironic because her cursed form was a cat. Nevertheless, she exclaimed, "Oh, you is the cutest!"

In response, the cat lowered its head in the box and came back up with a note. She took it, opened it, and read.

My dearest Shampoo,

Please accept this cat as a token of my love. I hope to visit you soon.

Love,

Mousse

P.S. The cat's name is Moonbeam. He is well-trained.

'Hmph. I knew he still love me.' Seeing as how the cat had delivered Mousse's note, it was obvious he was well-trained. As she stared at the note, a wonderful idea came to her: Moonbeam could be the café's mascot. Surely, people would come to the restaurant to see the white cat.

Reaching under the table, she pulled out a camera and held it up to her face. "Moonbeam, Shampoo want to take pictures. You pose for me, yes?"

Moonbeam saw the camera, leaped out of the box, and struck a pose. She snapped a picture and the cat struck another pose. A total of six pictures were taken before all the film was used up.

Shampoo stroked his head. "Good boy," she praised. "You stay here. Shampoo go back to work." Moonbeam obliged by going under the table and curling up for a nap.

As soon as Shampoo's footsteps had faded away, Mousse cracked open an eye. His plan was working so far! Shampoo had fallen for his cat form. Everything was going smoothly.

He had heard rumors that each Jusenkyo spring could curse more than one person at a time. That was why he had tried to splash Ranma with water from Spring of Drowned Duck. This rumor gave him the idea that maybe he could rid himself of his current curse by jumping into a different spring. This prompted him to seek out Spring of Drowned Cat.

He figured if he had the same curse as Shampoo, she would eventually love him. Apparently, his idea had worked. He had jumped into the spring and he came out as a cat and not a duck. Truthfully, he loved his new curse. His vision was several times better than when he was human or a duck. His hearing wasn't too bad, either. He didn't understand why Shampoo hated her curse.

Mousse yawned and fell asleep, dreaming of Shampoo being his fiancée.

Shampoo worked until mid-afternoon when another waitress came on duty. Then she grabbed the camera (noting that Moonbeam was asleep) and raced to a one-hour photo lab. After that long hour, she received the pictures. She opened the packet and admired Moonbeam's pictures, which were right on top.

As she walked home, admiring the pictures, an idea came to her. An idea that involved Ranma. It was known that Ranma was afraid of cats, a true stumbling block for her because of her curse. However, she did occasionally use her curse to punish Ranma when he was mean to her.

Her idea was to use Moonbeam to punish him instead of herself. Since the cat was well-trained, he would listen to her. She just had to make sure Moonbeam didn't push Ranma over the psychological edge because then only that girl, Akane, could bring him back. She didn't want to push them even closer together.

Shampoo hated the idea of Akane being Ranma's fiancée. She had tried several plans to drive them apart. But they all failed because Ranma would rescue Akane or vice versa. This new idea, however, was perfect.

'Shampoo marry Ranma,' she vowed. 'No matter what.'

**I want to say right now that I am a Shampoo/Mousse fan. I believe they belong together. Therefore, Shampoo's reaction will be a little unexpected and OOC. Please, just accept this and enjoy the conclusion to Mousse's Ploy.**


	4. Mousse's Ploy part two

**I forgot a point in the last chapter about Mousse jumping in Spring of Drowned Cat. The reason I believe it worked came from the episode in Season Two titled "The Abduction of Akane!" Mousse had originally planned to splash Ranma with Spring of Drowned Duck and then later in that ep he tried to splash Akane. So, I reasoned that Mousse could replace his duck curse with the cat one.**

Part Two

Mousse licked the envelope flap before sealing it and dropping it in the mailbox. It had been a week since arriving in Japan as Moonbeam. He had just mailed a letter to Shampoo so she wouldn't get suspicious of not hearing from him after his gift.

He reflected on the situation. Two days after taking his pictures, the purple-haired girl selected the best picture of him and printed a whole batch of fliers with that picture. He had glimpsed a look and felt lucky that he turned out to be a white cat. He had chosen his alias beforehand, so it was indeed luck.

Mousse congratulated himself on coming up with the well-trained part. It would cover any odd things he was caught doing (i.e. appearing to read a newspaper). Most of the time, Shampoo caught him and simply said, "Silly Moonbeam."

He was so far happy with being Shampoo's pet and the café's mascot. Hopefully, he would soon be able to change in front of Shampoo without her rejecting him. Speaking of Shampoo, he better change and head back before she noticed him missing. He dashed into an unused shed, discarded his clothes, changed forms, and headed for home.

He strolled through the cat flap that connected to the living quarters in time to hear Shampoo say, "Now where that cat go?" Curious, he looked into the dining area and saw his beloved looking under the table.

"Meow," he called. Shampoo turned around at the sound and smiled.

"Oh! There you is." Shampoo scooped him up and took him to her bike where she placed him in the basket. He spied a metal box sitting on the back of the bike. Shampoo hopped onto the bike and took off.

"Moonbeam come with Shampoo on deliveries," the girl explained as she rode. "This order special, though. I bring lunch to fiancée, Ranma. He no say he love Shampoo yet. I have plan, though. Ranma no like cats. If Shampoo threaten Ranma with Moonbeam, he do what Shampoo ask."

Mousse inwardly frowned. He didn't like the sound of that plan one bit. He didn't want Shampoo to marry Ranma. However, Mousse had vowed before arriving in Japan that he would obey Shampoo's every instruction- even those he didn't like.

Shampoo parked at the Tendo's gate, put down the kickstand, hopped off, and grabbed the box. "Come, Moonbeam. We deliver now."

Mousse leaped out of the basket and followed the girl. It took Shampoo no time at all to find everyone, seeing as it was lunchtime. They were all grouped around the table.

"Ranma!" Shampoo exclaimed, wedging herself between Ranma and Akane. Mousse remained on the porch outside. Shampoo plunked the box on the table in front of Ranma and slid the front panel up. "Shampoo make lunch for you. You will eat, yes?'

"Uh, yeah. Sure." Ranma looked rather uncomfortable to Mousse and a quick glance to Shampoo's right explained why.

Akane was glaring at the Amazon intensely. It was no secret that Akane and Ranma really liked each other despite their verbal fights. It was a perfect match to Mousse. 'Now if only Shampoo loved me and not Ranma.'

At that moment, Akane turned and spotted him. She smiled and held out her hand, waggling her fingers. Mousse walked over and slid his chin into her hand. He felt her fingers stroke his chin before moving up to a cheek, and then his head. He purred contently.

'He's just as handsome as his pictures,' Akane thought. 'And friendly too, considering his owner.'

Out loud, she said, "He's gorgeous."

Shampoo nodded. Like any pet owner, she accepted all compliments, no matter who said it.

Ranma eyed the cat nervously. Cats scared him and, as usual, it was all his dad's fault for not reading the warnings in the Cat Fu manual. Ranma had tried everything he could think of to cure himself of his fear, but to no avail.

The cat looked in his direction and hissed hatefully at him. Ranma shrank back slightly. What was with this cat? Did he like only girls?

Shampoo looked back and forth between Ranma and Moonbeam before hitting a fist into her palm as if remembering something. "Oh, that right. Ranma no like cats. That too bad. Ranma no want Moonbeam too close, yes?" Shampoo held Moonbeam up by the scruff of the neck and almost in Ranma's face.

The raven-haired boy backed up to the far wall of the room. "K-keep it away from me," he practically whimpered.

"Okay," the girl answered in a cool, sly tone. "Shampoo keep Moonbeam away, but Ranma have to marry Shampoo. If you don't…" She held up the cat again.

Akane had watched the entire exchange with silent escalating fury. At last, she could keep silent no longer. "I don't believe you, Shampoo! You would stoop so low as to blackmail Ranma into marrying you!"

"It not blackmail," the Amazon shot back. "It a cunning plan."

"Oh, sure. Cunning. Cunning as a cat. Considering your cursed form, it's actually appropriate." With that pronouncement, Akane pulled out a bucket of water and threw it on Shampoo.

The changed girl shook the water off herself before growling as the smug Akane. "I kill violent girl," she snarled. "I give Kiss of Death again and hunt her down!"

"Don't Shampoo! Please!" cried Mousse's voice from behind her.

"Mousse?" She looked behind her, but only saw Moonbeam. "Mousse? That you?"

The blue-eyed cat dipped his head. "Yeah. It's me."

Akane smirked at the wet cat before her. That girl had it coming to her. It made her furious whenever someone tried to take Ranma away from her, even though she would openly deny it.

As she looked down at the cat, she thought, 'Let's see her try to kiss Ranma now.'

Akane's smirk didn't waver as Shampoo growled and snarled at her. She merely rolled her eyes as she thought, 'Please. As if an angry cat scares me.'

An alarmed meow from Moonbeam drew Shampoo's attention as well as everyone else's.

"Meow, mreow, rwr?" said Shampoo.

Moonbeam looked down. "Rwr," he said.

"I wonder what they're saying," Soun Tendo said.

Shampoo picked up her clothes in her teeth and left the room. She returned several minutes later, human, with a towel and a pail of hot water. She strode over to her "pet", dumped the water on him, and quickly threw the towel over him.

Mousse had barely enough time to tie the towel around his waist before Shampoo towered over him, fury crackling around her body.

"I no believe you, Mousse! You dare trick Shampoo! I no thought you sink so low! Stupid, stupid Mousse!" Shampoo huffed, turned, and walked to the other side of the table.

Mousse sat and stared at Shampoo's back in shock. Though he was practically blind without his glasses, he could still make out her outline and therefore, her position. He hung his head, letting his hair obscure his face.

Ranma had watched the entire incident, confused. Since when did Mousse start changing into a cat? Determined to get some answers, he walked over to Mousse. The boy's head was down and his shoulders were shaking slightly. 'Oh, man,' Ranma thought. 'Is he…crying?'

Ranma crouched down and laid a hand on one trembling shoulder. "Why, man?" he whispered. "Why did you do this?"

Mousse looked up at him, his eyes dry of tears. "I never planned to trick her. I love her and I thought if we shared the same curse, she would finally love me. I did plan to show her eventually. I never thought it would go all wrong like this," he whispered back.

'He did it for love.' Ranma felt touched by Mousse's reasons. 'Shampoo needs to know this.'

Ranma stood up, walked around the table, and stood in front of Shampoo. "Shampoo, you need to talk to Mousse."

"Shampoo no want to talk. Mousse trick Shampoo. Shampoo hate Mousse."

Ranma decided to switch tactics. "Don't you think it's odd that Mousse was a cat?"

"What you talking, Ranma? Oh, wait. Mousse was duck before. Why he switch curses, though?"

"He did it for you. He loves you."

Shampoo looked over at Mousse who was looking down again. He loved her enough to replace one curse with another instead of curing himself? She felt her heart melt at this thought.

Slowly, she approached the dejected boy. She crouched down and cupped Mousse's chin before tilting his head up so he was looking at her.

"Oh, Mousse. You love Shampoo enough to be a cat?"

"Yes," came the soft reply.

"Hmm." Shampoo tapped her chin for a moment. "For that, Mousse deserve Kiss of Marriage."

Mousse's eyes widened as Shampoo brought her lips down on his. If he had been in cat form, he would have purred. At long last, he had won Shampoo's love.

The End


End file.
